Greg Oden the next Sam Bowie???

Born in January 22, 1988 Greg Oden quickly became a high school phenom… as he grabs the PARADE’s high school Player of the year and the Gatorade National Boys basketball player of the year for two consecutive years.

He is one of the pillars for Ohio State for one season as they became runner’s up for the NCAA men’s division title averaging 15.5 points with 9.7 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game. Virtually only using his left hand because his dominant right hand suffered from injury. It just made me wonder if his hands were 100 percent he would have been a monster on the court.

At just 19 years old and 7 foot, 280 pounds with a 7-2 wingspan he was a topic of debate whether he would be the no.1 draft pick for the 2007 NBA draft. His close contender would be no other than Kevin Durant a 6’9 rookie who could play off guard and two forward spots who is a deadly perimeter shooter. Durant who could easily compare its play making skills to Kevin Garnet but with a scorer’s mentality is such a talented player that teams are willing to trade their franchise player for this rookie.

But why did Portland choose Greg Oden? Portland is a talent laden team with LaMarcus Aldrige, Darius Miles, Travis Outlaw, Martell Webster and Rookie of the year Brandon Roy. But they don’t have a significant center on their roster. Kevin Durant would have to battle up his minutes with Miles and Outlaw and with his frame he needs a lot of muscle improvement but his versatility would compensate all those things…

Greg Oden has an NBA body at a young age his physical presence and posting prowess could do a lot of damage in the rigid 80 games in the NBA and he could open up a lot of offense from Portland with double teams and not to mention his above average passing skills for a big man. But everything changes when Greg suffered another set back in his young career injuring his knee and would be out for his rookie season. Another blow to the Portland organization which reminds me of the Sam Bowie draft pick where Portland choose the 7 foot 1 235 lb center over North Carolina’s and NBA’s legend Michael Jordan. Bowie like Oden is also a high school standout who average 28 points and 18 rebounds and was picked for the US Olympic Men’s basketball team. And like Oden he had some serious injuries including a career ending leg injury after 3 seasons with Portland. He was also a logical pick by Portland since before Bowie they already picked a shooting guard by the name of Clyde Drexler. It just pains me to see such a good talent as Greg Oden to be put in a pressure cooker with criticism and expectations being bequeath into him. Though if I were Portland I would have choose Durant because he is a helluva player and has lesser injury compared to Oden but nevertheless Oden still have a lot of years ahead of him. Sam Bowie and Oden are different individuals I still believe Oden would became what he is being groomed to be but for now lets just give him a break a break he deserves…